This 'Honeymooners' sketch is part of an episode from Season 3, Episode 15, 'The Ring Salesman', 12/7/1951.

Thank you Robin_1990 for sharing.

I was just thinking of Pert Kelton's characterization of Alice and a thought just struck me. In order for two people to live together in marriage she may have been directed to act like a female version of Ralph and get as angry in order to cope with such a hot head.

This was cool,had never seen this original clip,loved it.On a side note,I got to meet Mr.Gleason(and Elton John,Angie Dickinson,and members of the Atlanta Falcons team,on the same night)where I worked as a teen(Aunt Fanny's Cabin restuarant-Atlanta,Ga.summer 1978),and treated us kids like we were the first fans to ever want his autograph,what a class act and wonderful man!

*review deleted*

I've read of the pre-Audrey Meadows Honeymooners but have never seen one. I enjoyed Pert Kelton, especially at the end of the piece. She was quite a good actor and would have moved the series into a whole different direction than her successor. The big surprise to me was Art Carney. Jackie Gleason's Ralph is the same, Joyce Randolph's Trixie is the same, and I expected Norton to match his later persona, too. That particular characterization is very close to what Art Carney used as "Newton the Waiter," a part he played in the Morey Amsterdam show (also in the Internet Archive). But Art Carney was also known for his impressions, and in this episode of the Honeymooners, he's doing his immpression of Slapsy Maxie Rosenbloom, a former-boxer-turned-comedian who set the mold for what a punch-drunk fighter sounds like. Norton looks like his old self (albeit younger) but sounds like a boxer who was hit in the head too many times. Everyone mentions the big change when Meadows took over the Alice role from Kelton, but who knew Norton started out so differently?

Amazing to see DuMont Network footage. Almost the entire archive of the company was destroyed during the 70's.

Most of the ingredients that made the Honeymooners a huge hit are here already. The big difference here is Alice. She's not played by Audrey Meadows like we're used to seeing later. She's played by Pert Kelton, the original Alice.
The reason given at the time for her replacement was that she had health problems that kept her from continuing on. But the truth was that she was kept out because of the blacklist of actors and actresses thought to be communist at the time.

Notwithstanding, I think the chemistry between Gleason and Meadows was more balanced than what you'll see here. Still, the shape of things to come is always fun to see.

TM